Last weekend was a busy one for us, as Nik mentioned in his last blog. I am the organizer for the Tucson aid station at Ironman Arizona, and I am always so thrilled with the awesome set of volunteers that we get. The majority of them come from TriSports.com, the Tucson Tri Girls and the Tucson Triathlon Club. The rest are usually friends and family of sponsored athletes who are racing, or people that are associated in some way with the various clubs and teams that we sponsor around the country. It is a long day out there, but we have a ton of fun and are right in the thick of the race. We had a pirate theme this year and the volunteers came to work decked out in pirate-wear.

Aid Station Pirates....Arrrrr you thirsty?

We had an awesome pirate ship constructed out of cardboard by our great warehouse staff and then painted race morning by our volunteers. We have, in our opinion, the best location for an aid station – under the intersection of two bridges, so we are protected from the unforgiving sun, rain or whatever nature decides to throw at the athletes on this November day. Luckily the weather was great, a tad bit warm probably for folks coming from colder climates, but otherwise a beautiful day. Watching the volunteers interact with the athletes is always so much fun, and seeing the gratitude on the athletes’ faces is what reminds us why we are there. So a huge thanks to all who gave up their day to make someone else’s better, and good job to everyone who raced on Sunday!

Nik and Andy with the Pirate ship being painted in the background

One particular athlete who stood out was Rudy Garcia-Tolson, who was making his second attempt to become the first double above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman distance event. In a time of 16:06:27, he achieved his goal. I am happy to say that our aid station won the Cleanest Aid Station Award and that, together with our Community Funds that WTC offers, a donation of $1050 will be made to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the same organization that has been instrumental in helping Rudy reach for the stars.